Our Family Pet

My dad scored this robotic dinosaur during a "day after Thanksgiving Sale" a few years ago. The last few days we have introduced Cameron to our "family pet". Sometimes he cries, sometimes he laughs. He has the same reaction to Parker, we're looking into it...

July Is Crazy

So far July has been quite the crazy month. We are consantly working on our basement (carpet, painting, moulding, hanging lights, hanging blinds....). Once everything is done I will do before and after pictures. I honestly can't believe how much I love it! My basement doesn't feel like the dark dungeon anymore. It's fabulous!

Our 4th of July was freedom-fabulous! We worked on the basement most of the day and my parents took Carson and Parker on the Heber Creeper. I've never been on the Heber Creeper but my kids love trains so I knew they'd love it! We didn't tell them where they were going until right before they left. Here's a little conversation Carson and I had earlier in the day:

Mom: Carson, you are going to LOVE where you are going today! You are going to do something today I've never even done! Can you guess what that might be??
Carson: Learn to sew??

What the crap? Why would that be the first thing he thought of? Crazy 8-year old's brain... Anyway, my parents took a few pictures of the train experience:




In other news...Cameron is finally learning to walk. He's 16 months old so I'm very excited!


The evening of our 4th of July was perfect. We hung out with some good friends and watched some fireworks. It was super fun!





Parker and all his girlfriends. It's funny because there aren't that many kids Parker's age who are boys. They are mostly girls. He doesn't care, he's a cool cat.



Oh yeah, a big "thanks" to our friends, Russ and Amy. You may not know it, but your truck was the perfect CAGE to the babies who wanted to crawl towards the dangerous fireworks!


Because these pictures had long exposures, you can tell who was sitting still and who was moving around a lot during the fireworks.




In other news...
On Sunday Cameron was being a huge pill. I ended up holding him in the hallway of church for about 45 minutes trying to get him to fall asleep. I wouldn't let him get down and play, I just held him tightly. After Sacrament meeting, I was fed UP. I took him home and put him to bed. Then I fell asleep. I woke up and my back was really sore. It was really sore for the rest of the day. I have a bad back so this isn't too unusual. I took some Naproxen and did my back exercises and tried to be careful.

By Monday morning I could hardly walk or move without enduring stabbing back pain. Crap. The last time my back did this was 3 years ago. I knew what path I was heading down. Without waiting for the back spasms that I knew would come, I called my back doctor at the Spine Institue of Utah. On my way to the appointment, I was really nauseated. A few miles from my house I said "agghhhh! pull over!" Sam quickly pulled over just in time for me to hork all over somebody's front lawn! Oh man, I can't stop laughing when I think about it. It was crazy! What would you do if you witnessed this on your lawn? Would you go out and offer the stranger a drink or a toothbrush? Would you be totally grossed out and irritated? I'd probably be grossed out. ha ha ha!

The back appt went great. My doctor prescribed me some medicine that didn't totally take the pain away but it made me feel good enough that I didn't care! In about an hour I'll be going back to the doctor's office for a cortisone shot and then life should be good.

Crazy back pains...all because of this little monkey and hauling around his 23 pound self!


Oh don't let the innocent look fool you, he's really heavy! Cameron, seriously, it's not funny.


Okay, maybe it's a little funny...

Another Rainstorm

Besides the obvious perks of having a really rainy spring season (yard looks great, temperatures are nice and cool, I'm reminded of living in Seattle...), one thing I really love is the look of the natural light outside after the storm--especially if the storm ended right before sunset.

Friday night was one of those stormy evenings. I had a friend in college who used to describe this kind of light by saying "ooooh, everything looks celestialized". As corny as that sounds, I think it's a perfect description! Just look at that rainbow!


With the cool lighting I decided to take some pictures of my flowers. Oh yeah, I took a few of the older 2 boyz as well.

I have not enhanced these colors at all, so fun. Here's a mini rose bush:


Red Lilies:


Crazy P-Maw and the boy who wore a Christams shirt in June:


Lavendar Bush:


My personal favorite: White Geranium. The lighting on this one rocks!


For Mother's Day I got a few rosebushes. They are in bloom and I love them. Happy Mother's Day to me...it's the gift that keeps on giving.



Pretty sky, real purdy.


I could go on and on but I'm pretty sure you are already bored so I'll refrain.

Stay tuned for some fun pics later this week....we've painted our entire basement and carpet will be installed on Thursday morning. My house is such a huge mess right now because everything has to be out of the basement to accommodate the carpet installation. I'm seriously freaking out, I hate living this cluttered life. I keep telling myself that it will be worth it. :)

Part 2 For Parker

Because we had ordered a birthday gift for Parker online, and because it didn't arrive in time for his birthday, we decided to have a Part 2 for Parker's birthday at Wheeler Farm. We made lemonade out of lemons!

It would have been more fun if this little man would have been happier. Oh don't let the innocent look convince you otherwise, Cameron has been a full-on terror for the past few days. I told my parents today it's like having another Parker in the house. However, because it's Parker's special "part 2" post, I'll leave it at that. No negative words about the birthday boy! ha ha ha!


We fed the ducks and geese. Parker looks constipated here. Oops, I forgot, no negativity about the P-man.


Have I mentioned I'm going to miss my 4-year old Parker? I'm not ready for him to grow up and get goofy teeth and start smelling like a boy. If you grew up with brother's you know what I mean.


You know what I mean, right Mr. Goose? Oh sorry, I think I'm delirious...Sam's been painting and my house is quite fume-filled.


Here's a bunch of pictures I took while the kids were playing around. I love lazy summer evenings at the park. Lately they are few and far between so I have to capture them while I can!







Here's a classic that Sam caught with the camera. Hey Parker, ya got an itch?? Oh yeah!


Cameron loves it when I make a chicken noise. So, he was happy to see chickens. It was funny because he was making the 'cluck cluck' sound of a chicken in this picture.


Here he is telling this calf all his troubles and woes regarding growing teeth and how his gums hurt like a mother.


This sheep looks a little more understanding though. It's true, he's probably getting more compassion and sympathy from this mammal that he is from his mama. I'm working on it okay?? It's not easy for me!


But anyway, this post shouldn't be about Cameron's crankiness or my lack of motherly instincts...it's about Parker. Sometimes I call him "Crazy P-Maw" Just for fun. It just rolls off your tongue. Try it!

One of Parker's birthday gifts was this crazy hose thing that sprays water everywhere. Lots of fun! Best $7 I ever spent, my kids stayed outside a good chunk of the day today playing in it. Nice!



Anyway, Happy Birthday (again) you Crazy P-Maw! I just love your guts and I'm starting to get used to the idea of you being 5. Just don't ever turn 6 okay? Okay?

Father's Day 2009

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's and Dads-to-be!

We had a nice Father's Day. While I was making breakfast for Sam, all the boys laid in bed with their Dad.


Last year we started a new tradition for Father's Day. Here's my post from last year. Well, due to the weather (rain and more rain) we couldn't go up a canyon this year. However, we decided to keep with the tradition of tin foil dinners. Instead of an open fire, we used my dad's Grill! So good, I'll be dreaming of that dinner tonight. Thanks to my dad for doing the grilling on his special day. Oh yeah, he also made mint brownies...with York Peppermint Patties as the middle mint layer. Holy cow, to die for!

Sam took a picture of his masterpiece (before being cooked). Fancy! I don't think there is a vegetable that Sam doesn't like. It's amazing.


We did a cliche gift this year and bought him a few ties. He looks real nice, don't you think?



This is my 11th Father's Day with Sam, 9 of which he's actually been a father. Lemme tell ya....he's a great dad! I'm so glad I married him. Love ya Sam!

Phew, Parker's birthday yesterday, Father's Day today...what will this week bring? Oh yeah, paint. We have to paint our family room this week. I'm pretty tired of living like I'm in a college dorm room. If you've been to my house in the past week, you'll know what I'm talking about. It's just not meshing with my simple/clean lifestyle. I'm freaking out here....

Parker is 5!

Happy Birthday Parker! I was sad when Parker turned 4 because "I was going to miss my 3-year old Parker". Today I was sad when he turned 5 because now "I'm going to miss my 4-year old Parker". Here's hoping this 5th year brings just as much joy and random-ness as the years gone by have. Seriously, Parker is such an individual, he keeps me on my toes.

The weather was pretty out of control rainy/cold so Parker chose to go to the dinosaur museum. The last time we were there was probably 3 years ago so it was fun to revisit.

Ooooh,scary cave.


"Edgar, your skin is hanging off your bones." Name that movie!!!

Anyway, here is a nice dinosaur foot. I like the shadow on the wall, agghhhhh, ribs!


This water erosion table is so much fun. Kids can build dams, bury dinosaurs, make rivers...non-stop fun. I told my dad he should build one in his basement!


My dad was with us and he watched this one kid build a dam. He said to me "as soon as that kid leaves, I'm going to go break that dam". Sure enough, a few minutes later the kid left. My dad casually heads over to the table and breaks through the dam.


Ha Ha, BUSTED! See those hands on the left side of the picture? That's another kid who is ticked off because some white-haired man just ruined the dam she was going to play with! She had it rebuilt within 10 seconds.


Hey Parker, how old are you? Um, can you be a little more excited? No? OH, okay.


Oh, sweet action shot of the kids jumping on the dinosaur scale. Combined weight? 110 lbs. They thought if they jumped on it, they would weigh more. I understand the logic, I think it makes perfect sense.


Here's Parker, smiling in the face of adversity. We can all learn a lesson from that.


Tonight we had a little cake and ice cream. Unfortunately, I didn't leave much time to make/decorate the cake. Let's be honest, it was the most ghetto cake I'll probably ever make. Whatebes, Parker loved it so who cares? Lucky for me, my nephew Aaron was at my house while I was trying to decorate the blasted thing. He's creative, so he graciously took over for me. Frosting in a can, brilliant.


Squirting whip cream in your mouth....for whimps. Squirting frosting in your mouth is for serious sugar seekers.




Oops, I guess Parker isn't hardcore. He promptly spit it all out in the bathroom sink. This look says it all....He's probably thinking "I'm going to regret this in the morning..." Hork.


OH man, I just realized I never took a picture of the decorated cake. It said "P 5" on the cake and Aaron turned it into an omnitrix from Ben10, Parker's favorite show. It was very coolio.
Happy Birthday buddy! By the way, my mom is laying on the couch because she had her knee scoped yesterday and had all the scar tissue removed from around her knee. Yowza!


Here's hoping she has a speedy, full recovery!


The doctors recorded the whole procedure and gave my dad a DVD of it! We watched it tonight, very interesting. Scar tissue looks kind of like fluffy cotton. Add that to your "gee whiz" file!

Alrighty Parker, I hope you had a great day. I love you so much! Thanks for being you. I look forward to getting to know my 5-year old Parker.